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Atlanta Braves' Chris Johnson (23) hits a home run, the first hit of the game, off Milwaukee Brewers' Matt Garza during the seventh inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 2, 2014, in Milwaukee.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

NEW
YORK — Gio Gonzalez homered in his first start for the second straight
season and pitched three-hit ball to lead the Nationals over the Mets.

Ian
Desmond also went deep and Jayson Werth had four hits for the
Nationals, who followed up their 10-inning comeback on opening day with a
more routine victory against one of Gonzalez's favorite foes. The
left-hander struck out six and walked one in six comfortable innings,
improving to 6-0 in his last seven starts against New York.

Bartolo Colon (0-1) was touched up for nine hits over six innings in his Mets debut.

PITTSBURGH -- Lengthy games don't bother Tony Sanchez. He played in the longest game in NCAA tournament history while at Boston College in 2009, the Eagles losing in 25 innings to Texas.

So it was no big deal when the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie catcher was called on to pinch-hit in the 16th inning Wednesday night.

The difference between the two is, this time, in a game that took 5 hours, 55 minutes, Sanchez singled in the winning run to give the Pirates a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs - the longest game in Pittsburgh history by time.

Sanchez's hit came off Carlos Villanueva (0-2), ending the game just short of 1 a.m. and 6 minutes longer the Pirates 8-7, 18-inning victory over Houston on May 27, 2006, that took 5:49.

The pitcher homered in his first start for the second straight season - sprinting around the bases because he didn't realize it was gone - and tossed three-hit ball to lead the Washington Nationals over the New York Mets 5-1 Wednesday night.

"I think it was the fastest home run jog in baseball," Gonzalez said. "I was about to slide home!"

Gonzalez also registered six of Washington's 13 strikeouts, giving the staff a total of 31. In a post on Twitter, the Nationals said that's the most for any team after two games in modern major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

PHOENIX -- Tim Hudson was backed to his old self with his new team. Hudson allowed three hits while working into the eighth inning in his first start for the Giants and San Francisco beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Hudson (1-0) was making his first start since July 24 after fracturing his right ankle against the Mets while pitching for the Braves. The veteran right-hander, who signed with San Francisco as a free agent in the offseason, had four strikeouts and no walks, and had Arizona hitters pounding the ball into the ground.

"After a couple of month from my surgery, I know coming back was a definite possibility," Hudson said. "You get anxious but I wouldn't call it butterflies. You just anxious to get back out there."

Hudson showed solid command of his first pitch and threw that first offering for strikes.

"He really attacked the zone," said catcher Buster Posey, who went 2 for 4 night with a run scored. "I'm sure he was anxious but didn't show it. He's been doing this for so long that he controls his emotional very well."

Arizona starter Trevor Cahill (0-1) held the Giants scoreless until the fifth. Angel Pagan singled in a run in the fifth and Michael Morse doubled in a run in the sixth to make it 2-0.

Haren didn't go with the Dodgers to Australia for their season-opening, two-game series against Arizona, so he didn't get his first taste of real action with his new team until he threw six strong innings in a 5-1 victory against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

"I feel like part of the team now," Haren said. "I haven't done anything up to now. I'm just happy that I was able to come through for the guys.

"I really wasn't with the team that much," said Haren, who signed as a free agent in late November. "Teams often bond on the road. They're in the clubhouse a lot, on the plane or bus, whatever. So I really didn't have that. I'm just glad I was able to come through, and I'm looking forward to getting back home."

While the Dodgers were in Arizona, Haren, their No. 4 starter, pitched in minor league games.

Haren retired the first nine batters before Everth Cabrera singled to center leading off the fourth and eventually scored on Yonder Alonso's one-out single to right. The run was unearned because Seth Smith, batting after Cabrera, reached on catcher's interference by A.J. Ellis.